Belated Fathers day

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Rich with SamAs Rich wasn’t going to be returning from Silverstone until yesterday evening we had prearranged that he would take this Monday off and have it as his first fathers day instead.

Sam had chosen some presents for his Dad which he thought he would enjoy as well as making a very lovely card (which you can see on Rich’s blog) at one of his play groups. After Rich had had a lovely long lie in to help recharge his batteries we then had a bit of a lazy morning while planning what we were going to do to mark this special day.

Rich decided that he really wanted to take Sam out for his first swim and after a bit of calling round the local pools to find out the opening times we headed off to our nearest pool, bought Sam a special swimming nappy and were set to go. Rich went in with Sam armed with his favorite bath duck while I watched them enjoying themselves from the window at the side of the pool.

Much fun was had by both Sam and his dad so hopefully there will be more swimming trips in the future – I may even get to have a go myself 🙂

Father’s Day

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A masterpiece

A masterpiece

I got back after Sam’s bedtime on Sunday so we celebrated Father’s Day today instead. Samuel had been busy, buying me some of my favourites chocolates along with a mug and something to soothe my aching feet. I was particularly impressed with the card that he’d literally had a hand in. As you can see on the left, Samuel did his first bit of painting especially for me – his Mum added the lettering.

This afternoon I took Sam for his first trip to the swimming pool. Initially he was a bit overwhelmed and sat fairly stationary in the water looking around at the massive unfamiliar bath into which he’d been placed. It didn’t take him long before he was splashing and kicking water just like he does at home. He did really well and spent 20 minutes in the pool before being towelled off and given a bottle. I look forward to taking him swimming again as he seems to really enjoy it.

British Grand Prix

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Please don't go Dad

Please don't go Dad

Yesterday I made my annual trip to Silverstone to help marshal the spectators at the British Grand Prix. It was a strange event this year as it was supposed to be the last time we’d be at Silverstone, but doubts about Donnington mean many people expect to be back at Silverstone in 2010. Bad timing also meant that I missed my first Father’s Day so me and Jessica decided I could celebrate being a Dad on the 22nd.

We’re usually given a free programme and sometimes a baseball cap but this year the organisers also gave us a polo shirt – maybe they’re getting rid of all the stock before they lose the GP!

Our accomodation

Our accommodation

We had a capacity crowd of 120,000 on the Sunday with a large number of them sporting Jensen Button caps. Unfortunately for them Button was unable to improve on his grid spot, finishing in sixth. Vettel seemed to be in a completely different race and had no trouble leading for the majority of the race before winning. Hamilton was fun to watch but wasn’t able to get anywhere near the points – on the warm down lap he decided to do a donut right in front of where we were marshalling… which was nice.

Thankfully it looks like we’ll be required next year for the marshalling regardless of where the GP takes place. I’ve managed to get to eight consecutive ones now and it is something of a tradition. There is even talk of two Grand Prixs in Britain next year with the possibility of us hosting the European one.

As usual I wasn’t allowed to take any photos of the on track action so if you want to see more try the official site here.

Park time!

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Katie playing with SamRich went off yesterday to attend the British Grand Prix at Sliverstone with his dad and so has left Sam and me to try and get by without him. We were not too distressed though as we had already made plans to met up with Thea and Katie who had also been left unattended by Marcus as he had to work today.

Seeing as Sam and I really love Kelsey park we decided to show it off to Thea and Katie and so packed up a very tasty picnic and we all set off on the tram. We had a quick wander around the park and after finding a good spot to stop and eat the picnic we eat all that we could (I may have over catered just a tad…). Katie then made a new friend while we packed up and he seemed quite sad to see her go off with us to find the swings.

There was enough time to have a good play in the lovely playground and Sam got a go on the swings at the same time as Katie which he seemed to enjoy. Katie made some more friends in the park and I also somehow became responsible for spinning a bunch of kids on a roundabout thingy for about 10 minutes.

Unfortunately I can’t show you any photos of our trip today as Rich took the camera with him to Silverstone so on the left is an earlier shot of Katie with Sam – look how much Sam loves his cousin 🙂

Sam’s weigh in

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Sam playingSam is pleased to announce that he has now reached the mature weight of 7.72 kg (16 lb 15 oz).

He is photographed here playing in the new Children’s centre which is a really lovely area with lot’s of great toys for babies and toddlers. I’m really looking forward to seeing Sam play in the sandpit and with the various craft supplies that are there for the older kids, but that may be a little while yet. Until then there are lots of drums, rattles, books and other toys that he is enjoying at the moment.

New neighbour?

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Jumping foxA few months ago some muddy paw prints appeared on the wall in our garden and we wondered who the culprit might be…  well Sam and I meet him this morning.

It seems as though we have a neighbor we didn’t know about and he gave me the shock of my life when he appeared at the top of our fence while I was giving Sam his breakfast. He had a good sniff around the bird table and admired our flowers while I dashed off to grab the camera leaving Sam slightly bemused and a little peckish.

He’s a big-un isn’t he – I’m sure he is larger than most foxes and he looked pretty well fed. He didn’t pay Sam and me any attention and before long headed back over our fence. I wonder it we’ll see him again any time soon?

Steve’s Birthday gathering

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Duncan, Sam & ChrisThe family Felton spent today out at Steve’s Birthday bash which took the form of a few hours out at a local park where the men became boys and played a bit of rounders as well as general larking about with a football and a rugby ball. Not that anyone knew how to play rugby… Steve only brought the thing along because he is Mr. Mars ball man and he managed to win about 11 different balls on the recent Mars online competition.

So the men messed about with all the balls, I had a couple of turns at rounders and the rest of the time Sam and I amused ourselves by watching the action from the sidelines. After the blokes had tired themselves out and decided they now needed food we all headed off back to Steve’s new flat and ordered a load of Indian food. Sam spent some time amusing his fan base and being generally cute… just look at him in that little shirt – isn’t he the most gorgeous baby ever? He decided that he didn’t want to sleep at Steve’s place though so after we had eaten our dinner Rich and I took noisy Sam back home and tucked him in to his cot where he went out like a light.

Muffins & Pizza

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img_1006Our first batch of muffins were not as successful as we’d have liked so tonight we have tried a different recipe. The result is much better and Jessica couldn’t even wait for me to photograph them before snatching one. They’re chocolate crumble muffins so they are a bit messy to eat but they are very tasty.

But I want to use this post to finally share the pizza recipe that me and Jessica have been using in our bread maker. We’ve searched all over for a good one and this is the best we’ve found so far. Please share any improvements in the comments below and see if we can make it even better.

Makes a 12″ pizza:

3/4 cup Water (175ml)
1 tbsp Olive oil
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Sugar
2 cups Bread flour (260g)
2 tsp Fast rise yeast
1 tbsp Seasoning (optional)

Whack the ingredients in the bread maker on the dough cycle and then use cornmeal to flour the surface when you roll out the dough. Cook for 20 – 30 mins at 220 deg. Celsius (200 Fan). So far we’ve only used garlic powder as the seasoning and can confirm that the dough would make good breadsticks as well.

Sam’s weigh in

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Sitting SamAfter the slightly frantic trip up to Northland as well as Sam going off his food due to teething and having a cold I was thinking that this may be the first weigh in where Sam didn’t gain any weight… but Sam must have not wanted to disappoint his fans and is proud to be able to announce that he now weighs a very respectable 7.68 kg (16 lb 15 oz).

For Sam’s weigh in this morning we had to find our way to a new location as our usual Wednesday weigh in clinic has stopped – however the new place is much, much nicer and is part of a larger ‘Children’s centre’ which we will be sure to visit again soon.